Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: ‘Rampage is playing himself’

FiveOuncesOfPain.com is here to give you the exclusive lowdown on the whole ordeal, at least through the eyes of one of the participants, King……. MO!

But first allow us to bring you up to date on the recent happenings between the two charismatic and talented fighters.

A video recently surfaced on FightLaunch.com where Rampage and Mo verbally spar it out for over four minutes in the back of a moving van. On the video it appears the argument is sparked from a previous occurrence where Lawal, being a fighter himself, refused to accept a few adorning Rampage fan’s claims that Quinton was the greatest fighter alive.

It left many of the hardcore fans that viewed the video scratching their heads as to how the whole thing came about. First of all, what was King Mo and Rampage doing in the back of a van together? How did the drama really kick off? And what the hell was Bobby Lashley doing in the background?

Well the answer to two of those questions is simple enough: the trio of fighters were on their way to an autograph signing together as part of the pre-UFC 100 festivities.

To answer the remaining question Five Ounces figured it would be best to have King Mo explain his side of the story in his own words.

Of Course Jackson recently published a blog via FightHype.com where he claimed that Lawal was “all butthurt” because he didn’t recognize him as a mixed martial arts fighter, but as Mo tells it in this exclusive interview with FiveOuncesOfPain.com, the two were far from strangers before that eventful van ride in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Let me tell you something; He just put up a blog saying that he didn’t know who I was, but let me tell you a little history: I met Rampage in 2001 and he shined me, but I wasn’t anybody at the time, I was just wrestling,” began the former Division I All-American. “I knew who he was because he was a black fighter and there were only two black fighters that were really well known back then, that caught my attention. I met him, he kind of shined me, but whatever.”

According to King Mo, that was the first time the two flamboyant gladiators crossed paths, but it was far from the last.

“Then some time passes and I’m starting to fight, so I met Antonio McKee,” continues Lawal. “Antonio is my boy. So we’re at the show with Jeremiah Metcalf vs. Andre Galvao in California (JG and TKT Promotions – Fighting 4 Kidz, August 30, 2008), and Antonio said, “C’mon, let me introduce you to Rampage”. So I meet Rampage and he’s cool, he’s talking to me. All of a sudden the cameras come up and he gets up in my face. He got up in my face like he was trying to punk me, but I stood my ground.

“So then, months later, I’m in Ohio when he’s fighting Keith Jardine and I meet him again! But he acts like doesn’t know me. He comes up to me and he’s like, “Hey whats up man, I’m Rampage”, and I’m like, “Whats up man, I’m Mo”. He’s acting like he doesn’t know me, so I’m like whatever, you know, I don’t care.

“Then after that he comes down to Oklahoma to check out some fights that I was down to see because I went to high school and college in Oklahoma. We had a mutual friend at the time and he told me Rampage was going to be down there so I called my homeboy up and told him that Rampage was coming down, and to make sure he was taken care of. I told him if he needed money or anything, for him just to holler at me. They needed money so I gave them some money to get him some bottles and a limo, but he didn’t know. He came up to me later that night talking to me like, “Hey Mo, are you from Oklahoma?”. I was like ‘Nah, I just went to school out here’, but I didn’t tell him that everything was on me. He was being disrespectful, kicking people out of VIP that he had no business kicking out and this and that.

“The next time I saw him was a few months later in Vegas for the Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida fight. We were hanging out, clowning and joking, it was a whole different level. He starts asking girls which of us looks better and they’re all picking me. Which is cool, it’s whatever. He tried to clown me and I clowned him back, and then we leave.”

And that brings us back to the previously discussed already famous video of the two, which has already drawn over 100,000 views on YouTube.com.

“So the next time I see him was this last UFC 100,” explains Mo. “He walks in and he starts asking people, “Who’s the baddest? Who’s tougher? Who’s better y’all, me or Mo?”. Everyone’s like, “You are Rampage”. “Who’s the greatest”, he asked everyone. Of course they were all like, “You are Rampage”. I was like, “Hold up, you’re not the greatest until you beat me”. I’m not just going to sit there and be disrespected like I’m just some bitch. Like I’m going to co-sign with the rest of the crowd and be like, “Oh yeah Rampage, you can beat me”.

“So I came back the next day and I’m calling him “Bum-page”, you know, just clowning him, and he sees it. So I’m up in my room later and I get a call that there’s an autograph signing and Rampage and everyone is down there waiting for me. I go down there to the van and sit down, and Rampage is trying to clown me by saying some of the corniest ass shit like, “Black on black crime”, and, “You’re so dark that Jesus fucked up”, and this and that. I’m like alright, whatever, “You can’t beat me though, dog”. I told him that straight up. The shitty thing is that I didn’t know it was being recorded. I had no idea, my back was turned. Afterwords he was all like, “Oh, my bad man. I didn’t know it was like that”, and he was trying to give me his number.”

Already falling under a fractional amount of criticism for his use of the “N” word during his spirited debate with the former UFC champion, Mo will be the first to tell you not to judge him until you’ve had a chance to walk a mile in his shoes.

“People are saying that I’m playing myself because I said the “N” word,” said the 28 year old native to Murfreesboro, Tennessee in reaction from some of the recent criticism he has received from a small minority fans. “Well you now what, I can say the “N” word. I talk professional around the right people, but when I’m around my people I’m going to talk how I feel like talking. Because I could talk slang like I do with my friends in the South and ordinary people would not understand me. Rampage doesn’t see it but he’s playing himself, and his race. He was talking about “black on black crime”, “Oh, you dark, you ugly”. That’s something a white supremacist would say. He’s playing himself and the whole race. He’s saying stuff that black people say amongst each other but he’s saying that shit all in the open, and the average UFC fan might think that’s something that’s cool to say. Like that black on black crime shit isn’t funny. He never clowned Dan Henderson like that, and he never clowned Wanderlei Silva like that, but when it comes to me and Rashad he wants to try to crack racial jokes. That shit isn’t funny.”

But what about the fact that Rampage went out of his way to state in his recent blog that Mo would be “half cool if he didn’t have those gay ass nipple rings & didn’t talk so much”?

Lawal would rather not address Jackson’s comments on his nipples or the rings pierced through them, but he will say this much, he’s far from the braggadocios type he’s currently being painted as.

“First of all, I really don’t talk that much around people that I really don’t know, unless someone approached me or something like that,” explains Mo. “I’m not that open to people. I’m not the type of person to be like, “Hey, I’m King Mo”, you know what I’m saying. You think I care if people know who I am? I don’t care. I care about getting paid. I’d rather be rich and unknown, then popular and broke.”

I see something in the works here. After this Don Frye fight (which I hope my boy Don wins, but probably won’t) I think Mo is coming to the UFC. Then the grudge continues. Mo is a relatively unknown fighter, but the guy is a hell of a brawler. Boasting (well, nothing to boast about, I guess) a record of 4-0 with 3 being tko strikes, I would LOVE to see him and Rampage in the cage.

Agreed. You can’t fault a fighter from a small organization with even smaller sponsorship for agreeing to appear in a video game for sponsorship dollars.

I think that statement White made is going to be on a case by case basis. Look and Couture for example. Yeah, it was done before he said that, but he also had it put in his new contract that it wouldn’t be held against him. Doesn’t mean he’ll be in next years edition.

Apparently you didn’t read about this story it was clearly directed at ANY fighter not currently employed by the UFC who signed a contract with EA wouldn’t be welcome in the UFC in the future.
It wasn’t a case by case basis it was everyone.
Now I’ll ask again do you think this will be another flip flop by Dana White or can you take this comment seriously.

How the hell could you honestly think he’ll stick to that? That means that there will be NO new fighters in the UFC for the next 10 years b/c most of them probably signed the deal.

Is that serious enough?

Getting a little irritated that someone’s pointing out one of Dana White’s over the top ridiculous comments. Don’t be because more people should be when the control freak goes over the line like threatening fighters who aren’t even in his promotion. I mean that’s just lunacy.

OK so if you think he’s full of shit as far is this goes and it’s an idle threat how can you defend that?
Don’t certain people ever get sick of Dana White’s rhetoric?
Apparently you’re one of the fans who is fine with whatever Dana does or says.

We all know its a empty threat. there is no way dana will exclude all the good fighters frome the ufc just because they were in a EA game. He will come up with some justification for signing them, or say nothing more about it. Although he does have a good reason to be upset at them.

Dana White is a hothead and says stuff he doesn’t mean all the time. I bet he gets pissed at his kids and grounds them for a year. I don’t take anything Dana says 100% serious. This whole thing was Dana throwing a temper tantrum and getting his feelings hurt because EA dissed him.

And yes, I am fine with whatever he says or does b/c he has the right. It doesn’t mean I agree with all of it all the time, but it’s HIS company. A company HE grew. A company he and Fertitta’s bought for 2 million, went 50 million in the hole, that is now a 2 billion dollar corporation.

It doesn’t make me a Dana fan by any means, but the guy has made MMA what it is today, as far as mainstream media goes. I may not agree with everything he does, but he has every right to do it.

Fine I have no problem burying the hatchet, but I do have to disagree once more Dana White has made the UFC what it is today not the sport of MMA big difference.
Creating a monopoly for an international combat sport is only good for Zuffa no one else.

I have to give Jstew3785 some credit though he hit the nail on the head when he said Dana made those remarks while he was throwing a temper tantrum because he brought this video game to EA they told him were not interested and now they’re coming out with a game of their own. Very true.

ive heard a bit about mo but his fight vs frye will be the first time i see him live. Also it will be a stiff test, as frye is a tough guy with some power. Although he never has fared well against better wrestlers.

Rampage addresses that white guy in the back of the van as “the whitest motherf*cker he’s ever seen”. The guy replies; “whitest guy in the hood”, Rampage retorts; “whitest guy in A hood, you KKK motherf*cker”. Classic.

The White House has released a statement from Pres. Obama. After reviewing the video clip, Pres. Obama stated that both men “behaved stupidly and deserved to be arrested, preferably in Cambridge, Mass.”

These two sound like 12 yearold girs. They both need to shut up and just fight because when they open there mouths it just makes them look stupid and give the opponents to the lagitamace of mma a reason to keep trying to ban the sport.

I dont think its that bad, all pro sports havs athleaths who bad mouth each other, boxing-football-basketball etc. these two are being pretty vocal about it but I dont think its any worse than any sport. The 12 year old comment is pretty funny though

Woah buddy. Gives the opponents of MMA “LEGITIMANCY” to keep trying to ban the sport? Really? Since when? They were only trying to ban it before it had rules and regulations. People talking shit was never an issue.

It’s the same things politicians do during a campaign. They just use more tact.

I like King Mo but I am kind of shocked to see him fighting Frye. Frye is one of my favorite old school fighters but I really don’t see the point in this fight. If MO wins, great, Frye is nearing 50. But if he loses his stock goes WAY down. I dont see him losing, but you never know.